THE head of the union representing state-paid school teachers suggested yesterday that parents be required to present a Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC) for their children to attend high school.

The TCC could be used as a method of compelling people to pay their taxes and to fund the $22-billion education transformation programme, said Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) president Ruel Reid. Reid was clearly referring to tax-dodging parents who were self-employed and not those paying income tax under the Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) scheme.

“I know it’s controversial, but to set the stage for us to understand that we have equal responsibility for the funding of education, perhaps if we were to have a (TCC) requirement before your child is registered in school, that would be a rather interesting innovation”, Reid said.

In his keynote speech at the launch of a Back-to-School Trade Fair 2006 at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, Reid said the society needed to examine more creative ways of funding the necessary investment at all levels of the education system.

“No society can continue to operate in a context where less than 60 per cent of citizens pay their fair share of taxes,” he complained, adding that PAYE employees had reached their taxable limit.

The JTA head challenged the government to find resources to ensure that all students could be accommodated in an institution at least until age 18. At present, he said, a significant proportion of children exit the education system by grade nine and have no institution to take them, as HEART/NTA does not accept students until age 17.

Referring to news that teachers would be allowed free movement under the Caribbean Single Market, Reid urged the government to keep its promise of bringing teachers’ salaries up to 80 per cent of market, warning: “Teachers will leave Jamaica and go where the salaries are more attractive, and already the world is suffering from a shortage of…teachers. So a word to the wise is sufficient.”

The trade fair, which is billed as a one-stop shopping experience for school supplies and services, is scheduled for August 12 and 13 at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Old Hope Road.

With its theme ‘Youth and Education, Jamaica’s Best Combination’, the event has GraceKennedy as its major sponsor in the amount of $1 million. Other sponsors include Sangster’s Book Stores, Scotiabank, Flow, the RJR Communications Group, CVM Television, and The Jamaica Observer.